RANGE-BASED EVALUATION

• US 20090228232A1
• Filed: 03/06/2008
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Gary F., Selby, David A., Ramsey, Mark S., Todd, Stephen J.
• Application Number:
  US12/043,564
• Publication Number:
  US 20090228232A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/127
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A solution for evaluating an entity includes assigning an attribute score to each of a plurality of attributes of the entity. For one or more of the attributes, the corresponding attribute score is assigned by determining one of a plurality of ranges of values that corresponds to an attribute value of the entity for the attribute and assigning the attribute score based on the determined one of the plurality of ranges. A composite score is generated for the entity based on the attribute scores for the attributes, which can be further processed to, for example, evaluate whether the event is suspicious in real time.

Claims

1. A method of evaluating an entity, the method comprising:

assigning an attribute score to each of a plurality of attributes of the entity, the assigning including, for at least one of the plurality of attributes;

determining one of a plurality of ranges of values that corresponds to an attribute value of the entity for the attribute; and

assigning the attribute score based on the determined one of the plurality of ranges;

generating a composite score for the entity based on the attribute scores for the plurality of attributes; and

writing the composite score for the entity to a computer-readable medium for further processing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity comprises an event.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving the event;

evaluating whether the event is suspicious based on the composite score; and

providing a result of the evaluating for use in real time.

4. The method of claim 1, the generating including merging the attribute scores of at least two attributes into a single attribute score based on a dependency relationship between the at least two attributes.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising evaluating whether the entity is suspicious based on the composite score.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising managing a data structure that includes a plurality of boundary values, each boundary value defining a boundary between a pair of adjacent ranges of values, and a count of entries for each range of values for the at least one attribute.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising periodically recalculating the plurality of boundary values for the at least one attribute.

8. The method of claim 6, the managing including updating the count of entries for the range of values that corresponds to the attribute value.

9. A system for evaluating an entity, the system comprising:

a component for assigning an attribute score to each of a plurality of attributes of the entity, wherein, for at least one of the plurality of attributes, the component for assigning determines one of a plurality of ranges of values that corresponds to an attribute value of the entity for the attribute and assigns the attribute score based on the determined one of the plurality of ranges; and

a component for generating a composite score for the entity based on the attribute scores for the plurality of attributes and writing the composite score for the entity to a computer-readable medium for further processing.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the entity comprises an event, the system further comprising:

a component for receiving the event;

a component for evaluating whether the event is suspicious based on the composite score; and

a component for providing a result of the evaluating for use in real time.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the component for generating merges the attribute scores of at least two attributes into a single attribute score based on a dependency relationship between the at least two attributes.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising a component for evaluating whether the entity is suspicious based on the composite score.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising a component for managing a data structure that includes a plurality of boundary values, each boundary value defining a boundary between a pair of adjacent ranges of values, and a count of entries for each range of values for the at least one attribute.

14. A computer program comprising program code embodied in at least one computer-readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement a method of evaluating an entity, the method comprising:

assigning an attribute score to each of a plurality of attributes of the entity, the assigning including, for at least one of the plurality of attributes;

determining one of a plurality of ranges of values that corresponds to an attribute value of the entity for the attribute; and

assigning the attribute score based on the determined one of the plurality of ranges;

generating a composite score for the entity based on the attribute scores for the plurality of attributes; and

writing the composite score for the entity to a computer-readable medium for further processing.

15. The computer program of claim 14, wherein the entity comprises an event, the method further comprising:

receiving the event;

evaluating whether the event is suspicious based on the composite score; and

providing a result of the evaluating for use in real time.

16. The computer program of claim 14, the generating including merging the attribute scores of at least two attributes into a single attribute score based on a dependency relationship between the at least two attributes.

17. The computer program of claim 14, the method further comprising evaluating whether the entity is suspicious based on the composite score.

18. The computer program of claim 14, the method further comprising managing a data structure that includes a plurality of boundary values, each boundary value defining a boundary between a pair of adjacent ranges of values, and a count of entries for each range of values for the at least one attribute.

19. The computer program of claim 18, the method further comprising periodically recalculating the plurality of boundary values for the at least one attribute.

20. A method of generating a system for evaluating an entity, the method comprising:

providing a computer system operable to;

assign an attribute score to each of a plurality of attributes of the entity, the assigning including, for at least one of the plurality of attributes;

determining one of a plurality of ranges of values that corresponds to an attribute value of the entity for the attribute; and

assigning the attribute score based on the determined one of the plurality of ranges;

generate a composite score for the entity based on the attribute scores for the plurality of attributes; and

write the composite score for the entity to a computer-readable medium for further processing.